While on vacation, we visited Bandipur national park, and were blessed with a 5 minute sighting of the King of the Indian wilderness – the Tiger. It was a very lucky sighting and here we share with you our ‘Royal’ experience. It had been drizzling continuously since the time we reached Bandipur and it was no different when the morning alarm woke us at 5 am. In spite of the wet and cold conditions, we set out on our morning safari at 6:30 am. We sighted nothing at all till about 7:00 am; when the monotony of the raindrops was shattered by a Sambar alarm call. We searched the area where the alarm call was heard, but the thick lantana, continuous rain and overcast lighting conditions made it really challenging for us to sight anything.All this changed around 7:40am when we heard our wireless crack with a message that a Tiger has been spotted about 10 minutes away from our current location. We immediately raced towards the area, not sure if we would reach there in time or not. But we were in luck. As we reached the spot, we were thrilled to see the “King of the Indian Wilderness” ambling along the edge of the lantana, busy scent marking his area.In the 5 minutes that followed, we saw the king in his many moods and poses; here are some of the unforgettable ones. The images were taken in continuous rain and overcast lighting conditions. D300 mounted with our trusted 300 f2.8 lens didn’t let us down in these conditions. All images were taken hand held; literally hanging out of a moving jeep.The majestic look of his highness.
His nonchalant, confident walk.
That strong neck and the massive head shows the size of this 8-10 feet long beast. 
Scent marking his territory – a typical behavior of the king.
In a pensive pose – the king seems to be wearing his thinking cap for a change.